Delaware Valley High School wins national acclaim

Delaware Valley High School in Milford, Pa., earned national recognition in two academic rankings announced last week.

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By Beth Brelje

recordonline.com

By Beth Brelje

Posted Apr. 30, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Beth Brelje

Posted Apr. 30, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

Delaware Valley High School in Milford, Pa., earned national recognition in two academic rankings announced last week.

It has been named one of America's most challenging high schools for the fourth year in a row by the Washington Post, ranking No. 14 in the state and 1,115 nationally compared to other schools.

For the second year in a row, Delaware Valley was named to the list of America's best high schools by US News & World Report, ranking 35th in the state and 1,138 nationally.

The Washington Post takes the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year and divides that by the number of graduating seniors.

The sum of that equation at Delaware Valley was 1.874. The higher the number, the higher the ranking.

Also noted are the percentage of students who come from families who qualify for lunch subsidies — 31 percent at Delaware Valley, the Washington Post reports.

Delaware Valley offers 24 Advanced Placement classes, more than any other high school in the region, according to previous surveys by the Pocono Record.

"We eliminated some of the local traditional honors courses and put AP classes in their place. We said to students, 'If you're going to go above and beyond, we are going to take you to a higher level,'" district Superintendent John Bell said.

"To me, our participation rate is more important than the success rate of passing the national exam in May. The reason for that is I want to see more kids taking the most challenging classes they can, because that better prepares them for college," Bell said.

US News & World Report evaluated more than 21,000 public high schools in a three-step process, based on state reading and math proficiency tests, economically disadvantaged students performing better than expected, and college readiness.

Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores and AP classes also come into play with this ranking.

The school also has earned recognition in past years from Newsweek in 2010; the College Board in 2011 and 2010, and the Center for American Progress in 2011.

"Now, we have the expectation to tweak and improve," said Delaware Valley High School Principal Ron Collins.

"It is a great honor. It sets a high level of expectation," Collins said.